Taunton community rallies to give White Tigers baseball team a great final game of the season

By Jordan Deschenes

Sunday

Jun 24, 2018 at 9:08 PM

TAUNTON — For the past five years, the Taunton White Tigers have helped numerous kids in the area, including those with disabilities, get involved with sports without the competitiveness of larger, more formalized leagues.

On Sunday, the White Tigers baseball team played its final game of the season, an effort that would not have been possible had it not been for the efforts of Taunton resident Michelle Littlefield.

According to White Tigers founder Jenn Wilson, Littlefield was able to reach out to a plethora of community members within only two weeks to garner enough volunteers to form at team to play against the team of youngsters at the James L. Mulcahey Elementary School field.

“They’re just a group of local residents who heard that we needed people. We’re very thankful for Michelle,” said Wilson.

“I’m truly humbled by this group of people who just heard about it and came to help.”

Wilson said that she realized less than two weeks ago that many of those who would have normally participated in the game were not available due to vacation, which prompted her to reach out on the “Improving Taunton” Facebook page.

Shortly afterward, Littlefield — who is an administrator for the Improving Taunton page — saw Wilson’s post and decided to reach out around the city for help, which included calling schools, the police department and City Hall.

“Nobody would take the bait,” said Littlefield, who managed to bring more than a few volunteers on Sunday.

“I figured that these kids deserve to have a great last game, so I grabbed a few of my daughter’s supporters, too.”

Littlefield’s daughter, Lyndsey, currently serves as Miss Lakeville 2017, and will compete in Miss Massachusetts later this year. She is also a member of Girls Inc. in Taunton.

Littlefield was able to bring several of her supporters and sponsors, including yoga instructor and fitness coach Jen Potter, photographer Kelsey Garcia and martial arts trainer Shaun Schubert.

Wilson first decided to form the White Tigers — a nonprofit organization — five years ago after her son was first diagnosed with autism, which left him gradually less interested in the competitive nature of traditional youth sports leagues.

“My son, Ryan, played a lot of local sports and everyone was great with him, but as they got older they got more competitive and he realized that he was different. He was really upset about it because he just wanted to be a Tiger,” said Wilson.

“I said at the time: ‘Why can’t there be a league for everyone, regardless of the color of their stripes?’”

For a fee of $70, the organization offers five different sports — hockey, basketball, baseball, soccer, and football — for up to five sessions a year, not including final games.

“For the last games, we always try to do something special,” she said.

According to White Tigers Treasurer Erica Trenton, the league is not only intended for those with disabilities, but also those who just want to play for fun and relaxation rather than glory or a victory.

Trenton said that the organization has seen players sign up for different sports from as far as Carver and Marlboro.

Trenton’s oldest son, Joplin, 13, volunteers as one of several coaches for the White Tigers and said that he helps out whenever he’s needed, particularly in teaching players the rules of each game.

“We’re not here to make them perfect, more for them to be out and socializing,” said Trenton.

“Some kids don’t want to play on little league teams, while others can’t handle the competitive nature of it. It gets to be too much, usually, and often as a result of the parents.”

Within a relatively short amount of time, Littlefield was able to bring on roughly a dozen mostly adult volunteers to play on the “Taunton” team against the White Tigers, including 24-year-old Kaitlyn York, who recently moved to East Taunton and has Down syndrome.

Among those from the Taunton community who came to play on Sunday included Rick Faulkner and his wife, Scott Rodrigues, who works at Xfinity Center and the Liberty and Union Alehouse, and Taunton Police Sgt. Richard Carreiro.

The husbands of Littlefield, Wilson and Trenton also played on the Taunton team, which Littlefield affectionately called “Team Lyndsey,” thanks to her daughter’s efforts to bring volunteers.

“Jen reached out to me, and I said, ‘Of course we’re gonna help out, in some way,’” said Carreiro.

“I went to the first game way back and didn’t play or anything, so I figured this year come full circle, I would at least attempt to play,” said Rodrigues.

“I heard about it from Michelle, and it’s for a great cause. I passed it on to a few people, too,” said Faulkner.

White Tigers members and supporters reached out to non-Taunton residents as well, including U.S. Army Sgt. First Class Greg Scott, 35, of Boston, who served six tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

“It’s great, especially on a summer day like this, to help out for these kids,” Scott said.

Despite last-minute scramble to make Sunday’s game possible, Wilson said that she was happy that members of the community not only came out to show their support, but also recognized the significance of what the organization does.

“We do all of our own fundraising and despite how much money we bring in each year, we still want these kids to know that they’re part of the Taunton community,” she said.

“While a lot of people who have never come might have this idea about what (the games) are like they’d be surprised because there’s some real talent out there.”

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